The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Thursday announced a new shortcode – 6232 for reaching the disease control agency.
In a statement to newsmen, the Director-General of the NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the 6232 was introduced as a means for the public to contact the agency’s Connect Centre and access verified information on COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
He said: “The shortcode is a toll-free and easy-to-remember number, which means that all calls to NCDC through “6232” are free of charge.”
The NCDC DG recalled that in 2016, the agency established its Connect Centre as a critical aspect of its event-based surveillance and risk communications strategy.
He stated that between March and December 2020, the NCDC Connect Centre received over 580,000 COVID-19 related phone calls.
According to Ihekweazu, the new shortcode will be used alongside the existing tollfree number – 0800 9700 0010 – which would gradually phase-out.
Naija News reports that the NCDC on Wednesday confirmed one thousand three hundred and ninety-eight (1,228) new cases of COVID-19 disease in Nigeria.
The overall reported cases of the novel virus in Nigeria as confirmed by the NCDC is now 103,999 which includes 82,555, discharged cases and 1382 deaths.